Brilliant_Rock

yessie adding Akex to my ling list of kitty cat prayers
missy ive been thinking about you all but we have some bad news of our own with Gary's daughter having cancer back in her liver and spine, she's 42 with a 12 and an 8 year old and a husband with a bad heart

but if no bodies mind can i shear some good news?
our Tibby the Tabby the resident tom we seem to have adopted went AWOL this week for 4 days and i tried really hard not to worry
i desperately need to find a job so he can go to the vet to be nutured
anyway this morning when i got up and looked out the front door the cat sussage was eatten and crumbs were on the plate like he leaves
and when i looked out the back door that plate of food was licked clean and he was asleep in his chair
we have had so many cuddles today and im so sorry the ring worm kitties can't have hugs like that

Super_Ideal_Rock

yessie adding Akex to my ling list of kitty cat prayers
missy ive been thinking about you all but we have some bad news of our own with Gary's daughter having cancer back in her liver and spine, she's 42 with a 12 and an 8 year old and a husband with a bad heart

but if no bodies mind can i shear some good news?
our Tibby the Tabby the resident tom we seem to have adopted went AWOL this week for 4 days and i tried really hard not to worry
i desperately need to find a job so he can go to the vet to be nutured
anyway this morning when i got up and looked out the front door the cat sussage was eatten and crumbs were on the plate like he leaves
and when i looked out the back door that plate of food was licked clean and he was asleep in his chair
we have had so many cuddles today and im so sorry the ring worm kitties can't have hugs like that

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Oh no, dear Daisy, I am so sorry about Gary's daughter and praying for her recovery.

Thank you for that bit of good news about Tibby your tabby. How scary and what a huge relief he is back safe and sound. Please give him some big hugs from me too. I think I miss that most of all. Hugging my kitties.

Sending good thoughts and healing vibes to Gary's daughter and (((hugs))) to you and Tibby.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Brilliant_Rock

Oh no, dear Daisy, I am so sorry about Gary's daughter and praying for her recovery.

Thank you for that bit of good news about Tibby your tabby. How scary and what a huge relief he is back safe and sound. Please give him some big hugs from me too. I think I miss that most of all. Hugging my kitties.

Sending good thoughts and healing vibes to Gary's daughter and (((hugs))) to you and Tibby.

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thank you Missy
we are trying to stay positive

i like to check in here twice a day to see your your all doing, i hope today is going to be better than the last
Tibby wil definatly take all the cuddles for your kitties and Borris, dear sweet princess is too little to fight off cuddles
poor Olie is just a baby and needs cuddles
i can tell where ever Tibby came from he was handled and cuddled as a baby and Borris not so and the late much missed Tinky was a rescue and i don't think he had had any cuddles

Super_Ideal_Rock

@missy Doing my daily check in today! I hope you and Greg are having as "good" a day as possible. That Tommy and Bobby and Ollie are handling the dips well is a silver lining - at least they won't be creating an environment wherein Fred gets worse

Poor Fred. A teaspoon isn't nearly enough. I can feel your frustration and helplessness - you can't reason with a cat, but goodness, if only we could! I was there once, about a decade ago, and I remember it vividly as just one of the worst feelings. I'm confident it was prednisone and an IV, and later appetite stimulants, that saved our Garett's life. I know that some cats tolerate diet and hormone changes better than others, though, I guess Fred's not really one for alterations

I wanted to ask - how are you handling the other house? Do you have cleaners, friends, family coming in to check on things?

Thanks so much for your kind words re. Alex - and @Daisys and Diamonds , @distracts , @Mamabean . I was a fright yesterday, but I've gotten myself together. My concern isn't Alex losing his leg so much as putting him through the process of losing his leg, knowing how high-strung he is at the best of times... but if that's what we have to do, well, that's what we have to do. I feel very fortunate to not have to worry about the cost of his treatment - I can't imagine how I'd feel if I had to weigh that into my decision-making. For now I'm staying far, far away from the internet - if I read one more thing about average cancer metastasis, average-ly prognosis, average effects of radiation and chemotherapy...

@Daisys and Diamonds So good to hear about Tibby's return! Hopefully he's had enough of the Great Outdoors and won't be planning another excursion!!

Last edited: Aug 18, 2019

Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
~H.D.Thoreau

Super_Ideal_Rock

I was a fright yesterday, but I've gotten myself together. My concern isn't Alex losing his leg so much as putting him through the process of losing his leg, knowing how high-strung he is at the best of times... but if that's what we have to do, well, that's what we have to do. I feel very fortunate to not have to worry about the cost of his treatment - I can't imagine how I'd feel if I had to weigh that into my decision-making. For now I'm staying far, far away from the internet - if I read one more thing about average cancer metastasis, average-ly prognosis, average effects of radiation and chemotherapy...

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Aww I get how you are feeling and you are smart to just step away from researching at this point in time. If you trust your veterinarian and your gut that should be good enough. I also get how you feel about not worrying about the cost of treatment. One less thing to weigh heavily on your mind. As for Alex being high strung I think that is the MO for most cats. At least in our current household all our cats (but not Oliver) are high strung. I attribute it to challenging beginnings. Our first 3 cats in the 1990s were laid back and chill but they did not have as tough beginning in life as we rescued them quickly. These 3 adult cats now all have hard lives before we rescued them. That is what makes this even more awful. Torturing them like this. And no results yet. All of them worsening.

We have not been back to our other home since May. We have to pick some things up (my meds!) but I am concerned about infecting another home. It's challenging to say the least. And Greg needs to go into the office soon. This is by far one of the most challenging things we have ever dealt with and I hope nothing surpasses this because I am not sure we would survive something more difficult.

Thanks for your suggestions about how to help Fred. Prednisone is on the verboten list (and he was taking it purely as an anti inflammatory before this for his arthritis and asthma but we stopped it due to the ringworm) as it will dampen his immune system even more and we need to get it working to beat ringworm. It isn't looking good for Fred. The ringworm is taking hold all over his body and because he is old his immune system cannot fight it off. We are at a loss as to what to do.

Hang in there @yssie and continuing to keep you and Alex in my prayers and hoping for a complete recovery for him. He is lucky to have you and your dh by his side. Hugs to you.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Super_Ideal_Rock

i like to check in here twice a day to see your your all doing, i hope today is going to be better than the last
Tibby wil definatly take all the cuddles for your kitties and Borris, dear sweet princess is too little to fight off cuddles
poor Olie is just a baby and needs cuddles
i can tell where ever Tibby came from he was handled and cuddled as a baby and Borris not so and the late much missed Tinky was a rescue and i don't think he had had any cuddles

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Sending you more good vibes and wishes for Gary's daughter. And thank you for your kind wishes and thoughts.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Brilliant_Rock

we always thought SPCA cats were tough as nails but what we learnt with Tinky is the vet said you just don't know what kund of rough start to life they had and as Tinky got older he just couldn't shake off alliments like when he was younger

Brilliant_Rock

Sending you more good vibes and wishes for Gary's daughter. And thank you for your kind wishes and thoughts.

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thank you Missy
and wishing them right back at you
excuse the washing but we had a miricle at our place tonight, especially considering this morning they 'had words' over who was going to sit on an old piece of cardboard that had blown into the garden this morning
lucky i washed Gary's jersey inside out !
this chair is right under the heat pump

Super_Ideal_Rock

So the rescue person we got Oliver from came over today and helped us bathe all of them. She prefers bathing over all other treatments. She scraped the fungus off the cats as best she could and we washed them in the shower with the Miconazole shampoo that I also use for my body. They did not like it but she was great with them and she is willing to come every week to help us bathe them. I am so appreciative of her help. She kept apologizing because she feels it is her fault all our cats are so sick but we don't blame her. Sh** happens and she didn't do it on purpose. And I am so grateful she is willing to come all this way (one hour each way) to help us every week. She even said every few days but since we are lime dipping I think shampooing them once a week is sufficient as we need the lime dip to stay on them for a few days at least. Praying this helps Fred who is looking very raw and bloody on his face, paws and neck and chest. Quick pic of Elaine with Fred after his bath. You can sort of see his nose is bloody as are his front paws.

The cats did not like it as anticipated but everyone survived the bathing. It isn't easy to do so we definitely need her help. Our cats are sort of wild when we subject them to treatments they do not like. Anyway it is a relief to be able to get them shampooed and fingers crossed this brings them forward in the right direction and into healing and recovery soon.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Super_Ideal_Rock

thank you Missy
and wishing them right back at you
excuse the washing but we had a miricle at our place tonight, especially considering this morning they 'had words' over who was going to sit on an old piece of cardboard that had blown into the garden this morning
lucky i washed Gary's jersey inside out !
this chair is right under the heat pump

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Aww thank you for sharing the photo Daisy. Precious.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Ideal_Rock

So the rescue person we got Oliver from came over today and helped us bathe all of them. She prefers bathing over all other treatments. She scraped the fungus off the cats as best she could and we washed them in the shower with the Miconazole shampoo that I also use for my body. They did not like it but she was great with them and she is willing to come every week to help us bathe them. I am so appreciative of her help. She kept apologizing because she feels it is her fault all our cats are so sick but we don't blame her. Sh** happens and she didn't do it on purpose. And I am so grateful she is willing to come all this way (one hour each way) to help us every week. She even said every few days but since we are lime dipping I think shampooing them once a week is sufficient as we need the lime dip to stay on them for a few days at least. Praying this helps Fred who is looking very raw and bloody on his face, paws and neck and chest. Quick pic of Elaine with Fred after his bath. You can sort of see his nose is bloody as are his front paws.

The cats did not like it as anticipated but everyone survived the bathing. It isn't easy to do so we definitely need her help. Our cats are sort of wild when we subject them to treatments they do not like. Anyway it is a relief to be able to get them shampooed and fingers crossed this brings them forward in the right direction and into healing and recovery soon.

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That’s wonderful @missy! I’m so happy you finally have some help...It just hurts my heart to read your posts...I don’t know what to say...It’s such a horrible situation...I’m so hoping they turn the corner soon..xxxooo

Joanne

“It is nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” John Templeton

Super_Ideal_Rock

That’s wonderful @missy! I’m so happy you finally have some help...It just hurts my heart to read your posts...I don’t know what to say...It’s such a horrible situation...I’m so hoping they turn the corner soon..xxxooo

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Thank you Joanne! I hate to ask for help unless it is a good friend and even then but this morning I was just so desperate over Fred's situation and Greg was talking about we have no choice but to euthanize Fred because he keeps getting worse and he is suffering so I texted Elaine and asked if she could come over at her convenience to help and she said yes right away. I cannot convey how much I appreciate her help and pray we can save Fred and that they all get well. This strain they have is one scary a** strain.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Ideal_Rock

I am so glad you have found someone willing to help. I know the baths are stressful but whenever I bathe mine I wrap them in towels and then cuddle them while they dry and they seem to like it. Hopefully adding the shampoo treatment is the kick in the pants the ringworm needs!

Ideal_Rock

Thank you Joanne! I hate to ask for help unless it is a good friend and even then but this morning I was just so desperate over Fred's situation and Greg was talking about we have no choice but to euthanize Fred because he keeps getting worse and he is suffering so I texted Elaine and asked if she could come over at her convenience to help and she said yes right away. I cannot convey how much I appreciate her help and pray we can save Fred and that they all get well. This strain they have is one scary a** strain.

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She sounds like she has a big heart....I’m still praying..

Joanne

“It is nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” John Templeton

Shiny_Rock

Oh Missy, I am so sorry you and Greg are going through this. My heart just breaks for all of you.

I am so glad you are getting some help with the baths. I am sure Elaine does feel guilty even though it is not her fault. As you said, sometimes sh!* happens. I had no idea ringworm could be virulent and debilitating or even deadly. I worry about you my dear girl, with your immune system issues. I am just so glad you and Greg have support and someone to turn to. It's respite in a way.

I was hoping after the loss of Francesca and getting over the respiratory illnesses that little Oliver would help mend your hearts a bit. You can see from the pictures there is a strong bond, and complete love and trust between Greg and Oliver. You two are his saviours and he knows it.

Never second guess the decisions you made. You were honouring Frankie when you got Oliver. You saved his eye. You made a choice on the best available information you had at the time. You didn't know all this would happen. The hard part is that you feel you are torturing your other boys but I am sure they know you love them. If you and Greg had not rescued them they would not be here today. They've all had a wonderful life with you and Greg after their very rough start in life.

Brilliant_Rock

So the rescue person we got Oliver from came over today and helped us bathe all of them. She prefers bathing over all other treatments. She scraped the fungus off the cats as best she could and we washed them in the shower with the Miconazole shampoo that I also use for my body. They did not like it but she was great with them and she is willing to come every week to help us bathe them. I am so appreciative of her help. She kept apologizing because she feels it is her fault all our cats are so sick but we don't blame her. Sh** happens and she didn't do it on purpose. And I am so grateful she is willing to come all this way (one hour each way) to help us every week. She even said every few days but since we are lime dipping I think shampooing them once a week is sufficient as we need the lime dip to stay on them for a few days at least. Praying this helps Fred who is looking very raw and bloody on his face, paws and neck and chest. Quick pic of Elaine with Fred after his bath. You can sort of see his nose is bloody as are his front paws.

The cats did not like it as anticipated but everyone survived the bathing. It isn't easy to do so we definitely need her help. Our cats are sort of wild when we subject them to treatments they do not like. Anyway it is a relief to be able to get them shampooed and fingers crossed this brings them forward in the right direction and into healing and recovery soon.

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i am so pleased you have a friendly helping hand
things are going to turn around for the better now missy

Brilliant_Rock

anybody who baths a cat is a miricle worker, has balls of steel and deserves a medal
our cats get grumpy when they just see rain clouds
but they do love being dried
i honestly had no idea ringworm was such a terrible thing to great and my heart breaks for anyone anywhere trying to cope with treating their cats for this comdition

I am so glad you have found someone willing to help. I know the baths are stressful but whenever I bathe mine I wrap them in towels and then cuddle them while they dry and they seem to like it. Hopefully adding the shampoo treatment is the kick in the pants the ringworm needs!

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Thanks @distracts, yes we did that though with 4 cats I couldn't cuddle them in their towels for too long but I did it as long as I could til we went onto the next cat. All 4 were bathed and towel dried and cuddled and the process took us 2 hours. Elaine was surprised at how late it was when we were all done. She just made it back in time to pick her kids up from camp. The cats were definitely not pleased and Tommy tried jumping the glass shower door and he is quite the jumper. He scared the you know what out of me but he tired himself out after a bit. Oliver was screaming the whole time which was surprising as he is the most mellow kitty. But he doesn't like baths. Elaine used a pump sprayer to wet and rinse all the cats so not the overhead shower. With the exception of Bobby who was too big to use the sprayer so we had to use the shower head for Bobby. She couldn't get all the shampoo out of Tommy or Bobby and after she left I saw Tommy drooling because he had licked some of the shampoo from his hair. Elaine had warned be about that so I didn't freak out (too much) but I would rather have gotten all the shampoo off them. They are challenging cats to shampoo and even with an expert like Elaine it was hard but she was amazing with them. Today is lime dip day so I am apprehensive because Fred has raw areas where the fungus took hair and where Elaine scrubbed him yesterday so hoping he can get dipped successfully and without discomfort. Fingers crossed.

Super_Ideal_Rock

Oh Missy, I am so sorry you and Greg are going through this. My heart just breaks for all of you.

I am so glad you are getting some help with the baths. I am sure Elaine does feel guilty even though it is not her fault. As you said, sometimes sh!* happens. I had no idea ringworm could be virulent and debilitating or even deadly. I worry about you my dear girl, with your immune system issues. I am just so glad you and Greg have support and someone to turn to. It's respite in a way.

I was hoping after the loss of Francesca and getting over the respiratory illnesses that little Oliver would help mend your hearts a bit. You can see from the pictures there is a strong bond, and complete love and trust between Greg and Oliver. You two are his saviours and he knows it.

Never second guess the decisions you made. You were honouring Frankie when you got Oliver. You saved his eye. You made a choice on the best available information you had at the time. You didn't know all this would happen. The hard part is that you feel you are torturing your other boys but I am sure they know you love them. If you and Greg had not rescued them they would not be here today. They've all had a wonderful life with you and Greg after their very rough start in life.

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Aww thank you dear @Poodles4me, this experience is surreal. I appreciate your kind comments and good thoughts for us and your caring concern. Losing Francesca was one of the worst things to happen and we miss her so much words cannot convey how much. The pain runs deep and strong. And yes now dealing with a virulent strain of ringworm and we have not had time to catch our breaths. We are thankful Elaine came yesterday and she changed the whole dynamic here or at least we hope she did. As @distracts said we hope adding in the shampooing helps start healing the kitties. Thank you for your kind words. I hope all is well with you and I miss chatting with you. Please update me on what is going on in your world. Online or offline is good. Hugs.

anybody who baths a cat is a miricle worker, has balls of steel and deserves a medal
our cats get grumpy when they just see rain clouds
but they do love being dried
i honestly had no idea ringworm was such a terrible thing to great and my heart breaks for anyone anywhere trying to cope with treating their cats for this comdition

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We used a pump sprayer in the shower with the glass door closed so only big Bobby actually needed the overhead shower heads. With the others we sprayed them with water from the pump sprayer, shampooed them and then rinsed them with the sprayer. Less harsh than the overhead shower but since Bobby is so big we had to use the shower. The cats were not pleased and Tommy was doing some acrobatics that scared the cr** out of me but luckily he burned out after a bit and calmed down. But Bobby and Tommy still had shampoo on them when we finished because they had had enough and we didn't want to push our luck lol. All in all an interesting and challenging experience and one we must repeat regularly and hoping they will overcome this nasty RW business.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Super_Ideal_Rock

Fred was hanging out with us all last night on the couch. Greg was so pleased because he has such a soft spot for Fred. Well we all do but Greg was broken up about the fact that we might have to euthanize him and after yesterday we are both more hopeful. Praying he can and will get better and overcome the ringworm and start feeling well again.

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
― Anatole France

Shiny_Rock

Thank you @Weecam, that is very kind of you. Life is heartbreaking for sure and with animals especially so because their life span is so much shorter than humans. Crying is something I do often these days. Much more often than ever before. But I do not get any sweet release with my tears because there is no end in sight. Thank you for your compassion. And I am sorry your asthma became so severe and prevented you from continuing your good work with the animals. Hope you are feeling well now.

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Thank you, yes I loved that job but after 4 years I was on the maximum dosage of Ventolin and Becloforte and I still had uncontrollable asthma. I had to make a very difficult choice, to quit my job and find homes for our two cats that we adopted from the animal hospital. It was before we had kids so the cats were our furry kids. It was heartbreaking even though we found great homes for them...we still cried and cried . I vowed to never own a pet again...

For 20 years we went without pets until one day my friend told me about the Portuguese Water Dog. Now our house is full, three hypoallergenic dogs and two teen boys. I still have to use an inhaler on occasion but it’s very manageable. Unfortunately when you develop asthma as an adult it often stays with you for the rest of your life.

I’ve been coming to this thread to check on you, Greg and the cats. I hope Fred is feeling better today.

Super_Ideal_Rock

Alex’s biopsy was today. Vet is confident it’s cancer. We’ll have to wait for the results to be 100% sure, but... he’s sure.

Vaccine Associated Fibrosarcoma. They now give certain vaccines with adjuvants known to cause this problem in some cases in specific areas, so they can track which vaccine caused a given incident. Back right hock = rabies shot.

If it’s metastasized, there’s no point in taking the leg, and prognosis is very bad. So him losing his leg - because it hasn’t spread - is our best case scenario. They won’t be able to just excise the tumour because it’s a sort that isn’t clearly demarcated, so they have to take the mass plus a literal pound of flesh in all directions around it. I get it, logically, but I’m having a hard time “hoping” for that.

Vaccines known to cause problems in cats. I’m beyond shocked. How the h*ll can this be happening, after decades of fussing over human vaccines? The silver lining is that Alex got his on his leg rather than between his shoulderblades, as they used to do - you can remove a leg. Not much you can do about neck and back.

He’s so tiny under all that fur. 16lbs.

He’s purring up a storm, eating like a maniac, snuggling desperately, and taking his pain meds like a champ. Doesn’t like the cold compress and hasn’t figured out the cone - he’s limping around backward, which would be completely adorable if it wasn’t completely horrifying.

From a few days ago - self-inflicted kitty jail...

Last edited: Aug 20, 2019

Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk.
~H.D.Thoreau

Ideal_Rock

I'm so sorry to hear this, Yssie. I was rooting for it to be a benign tumor. It's not fair at all. My heart goes out to you guys. This has got to be tremendously tough to deal with. Alex looks so grumpy yet so handsome, and reminds me very much of my older cat. Give him cuddles for me.

Vaccine Associated Fibrosarcoma. They now give certain vaccines with adjuvants known to cause this problem in some cases in specific areas, so they can track which vaccine caused a given incident. Back right hock = rabies shot.

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I had wondered if this was the cause as soon as you said it was one of his rear legs. Both my cats are purebreds and breeders frequently tell you about this. Apparently cats are much more likely to develop these tumors than other pets, even when the same vaccine is used. Unfortunately since the rabies vaccine I think is the main one that causes it and it is legally required, there's no way to avoid the risk. I don't know if that helps, to know that there is nothing you could realistically have done to prevent this. But maybe it does.